Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Grows Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 218,494 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.08% of Agilent Technologies worth $29,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CSM Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 21,052 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,828,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,902 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 4,727 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 3,730 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Quantessence Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,430,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 978,420 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $131,506,000 after purchasing an additional 5,051 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $143.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.8 %

Agilent Technologies stock traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.59. 688,940 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,871,320. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $115.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.50. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.43 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers liquid chromatography systems and components; liquid chromatography mass spectrometry systems; gas chromatography systems and components; gas chromatography mass spectrometry systems; inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry instruments; atomic absorption instruments; microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry instruments; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry instruments; raman spectroscopy; cell analysis plate based assays; flow cytometer; real-time cell analyzer; cell imaging systems; microplate reader; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; and vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.